Jerusalem Cross
Also known as the five-fold cross. Usually the crosses are colored red. It consists of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses – one in each of the quadrants formed by the larger cross. Sometimes the large center cross can be a Greek cross. It was emblem of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the 1280s, and then Pope Urban II gave it to the Crusaders in the Middle Ages; therefore it is also known as the “Crusader’s Cross.” The red symbolizes God’s sacrifice for humankind. Each of the four smaller crosses represent the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One is for evangelism, two are for teaching the Old and New Testaments, and the fourth is for the five wounds of Christ. In modern times, people wear the Jerusalem Cross to signify the eight beatitudes – the way Jesus taught us to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
—Katherine Richardson
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